Is oat milk bad for you? That's the wrong question.

Is oat milk good or bad for you?

that's the question bundle of Recent news heading I asked. I really hate that question.

How the food we eat affects our health is obviously very important. However, most foods containing non-dairy milk are neither universally good nor bad for everyone. Whether or not oat milk is bad for your health depends on many factors, including your current physical condition, the context in which you consume oat milk, and the amount you consume, to name a few.

“The simple 'good vs. bad' talk about non-dairy products such as traditional milk and oat milk often overlooks the complexity of nutrition,” said Hassan Batanpalast, professor of nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan. To tell. Studied They told me about dairy-free milk via email.

This healthy/unhealthy dichotomy also obscures a much more complex set of factors that determine what we eat. For many of us, health is high on that list. But so are taste, cost, presence of allergens, and environmental impact. We live in a time where we are being asked to think beyond ourselves and our bodies and realize that what we eat has an often very profound impact on the world around us.

So what should I drink? That question has been bothering me, so I read some books and consulted some experts to understand it.

If you are a healthy person, it is safe to drink an oat milk latte every day.

Many recent articles about oat milk have raised concerns about the drink's effects on blood sugar levels. More specifically, it causes a spike in blood sugar levels after ingestion. So let's start there.

It is well known that repeated spikes in blood sugar levels (i.e., rapid increases in glucose in the blood) are bad. It is associated with insulin resistance, a precursor to cardiovascular disease and diabetes. What does oat milk have to do with it? It is higher in starch (carbohydrates) than other non-dairy milks, and starch is converted into simple sugars when digested. This causes blood sugar levels to rise. (This conversion from starch to more simple sugars also occurs when oats are processed into oat milk. So even though sugar is not listed as an ingredient, oat milk often tastes slightly sweet.) there is.)

However, it is normal for foods to raise blood sugar levels, especially if the food is a processed grain. For most people, that's not a problem. If you are healthy and don't include starchy carbohydrates in your diet, you should have no problem regulating your blood sugar levels after drinking a glass of oat milk and bringing them back up after a spike. To be clear, oat milk is not a sugary drink like soda.

To explain a little further, nutritionists use a rating system called the glycemic index to measure how much different foods raise blood sugar levels (this is because different types of sugar have different effects on blood sugar levels). (as opposed to simply the total amount of sugar in something). confusing). In general, oat milk has a “moderate” glycemic index, Batanpalast said. In other words, it's neither particularly bad nor particularly good for your blood sugar levels.

We asked oat milk company Oatly about this as well. Kate Twine, the company's nutrition expert, said the popular Barista Edition is slightly higher in fat than regular Oatly and has a medium glycemic index. When considering serving size (for example, 1 cup), use the relevant measure: glycemic loadthe glycemic profile was even better and the glycemic load was “low,” she said.

What is somewhat clear is that the amount of milk (and hence carbohydrates) you drink is important. What you consume along with it is also important. Foods rich in fiber, protein, and fat can slow the absorption of glucose and therefore lessen its impact on blood sugar levels. (Milk has a lower glycemic index than oat milk) and other non-dairy milks, but the glycemic load is more equivalent. Rice milk, on the other hand, has a very high glycemic index and glycemic load. Bottom line: A cup of oat milk is probably okay for your blood sugar levels. )

However, there are important caveats. For people with diabetes or insulin resistance, the presence of glucose and starchy carbohydrates is clearly much more important. “If you have diabetes, oat milk may not be the best option because it's one of the carbohydrate-rich milk substitutes,” says Jaffe Institute for Food and Allergy Research, a division of the Icahn School of Medicine. Marion Grotch says. A M.D. from Mount Sinai told me. But if you don't have diabetes and are eating well, Groch says, drinking an oat milk latte every day isn't too much of a concern.

Other health-related considerations:

• Oat milk tends to be lower in protein than dairy or soy milk.But you you probably don't need to worry about it.
• These milks are typically higher in fiber and lower in fat than dairy or non-dairy milks such as coconut (assuming you avoid full-fat milk or milk with added sugar).
• Additives such as rapeseed oil and emulsifiers (which essentially prevent ingredients from separating) are commonly found in non-dairy milks such as oat milk and are generally considered safe by national and international health authorities, Batanpalast said. It is said that it is recognized that
• Having said that, there are some research Emulsifiers, especially synthetic emulsifiers such as carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate 80, have been linked to potentially deleterious changes in the gut microbiome. The real-world impact is unclear and not well tested. Studies I've read suggest that the emulsifiers used in popular oat milk brands (I've reviewed several) don't pose any serious safety concerns. gellan gumHowever, further research is needed.

So what happens to us? Unless you're drinking a lot of oat milk, your diet is already high in carbohydrates, and/or you have diabetes, drinking oat milk is probably fine for your body. If most of your daily water comes from milk, plant-based or not, it's probably not good. Moderation is key.

Another reason to consider milk “good” or “bad”

This is a good time to mention it. I'm not vegan. I occasionally eat dairy products, but I don't really like all non-dairy milks.They're all like so-and-so. But I usually choose to consume oat and soy milk because it tastes good enough in coffee or cereal, I can afford it, and importantly, it supports cow welfare and Because it's an easy way to reduce your carbon footprint.

This is another reason why I'm uncomfortable with the “good/bad” debate surrounding oat milk. This debate distracts from other important considerations and instead serves the public's desire for simple, feel-good answers. I wish I could just choose something as basic as milk, but that's not the case.

As for my personal opinion, I like cows, but the treatment they receive on a typical dairy farm seems unkind at best. Farmers repeatedly impregnate cows and take away the calves immediately after they are born.If the baby is male, usually turned into a calf Or raised for beef. If the calf is female, it is usually dehorned, docked, and eventually stumped. slaughtered (when milk production declines). I don't think this is a happy existence.

We also know that every liter of milk is produced in the world. 3 times Same amount of carbon dioxide emissions plant milk. Cows emit methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, through their burps and feces.The graph below is based on his 2018 year study from diary science, It has become especially clear. This shows that non-dairy milks, especially oat milk, not only have lower emissions, but also require less land and water. There also tends to be less pollution. (Growing feed for cattle requires a lot of land, fertilizer, and pesticides.)

I'm not saying that avoiding dairy is an easy choice. We need to fight the pain that the decline of the dairy industry will cause. I've met many farmers as a journalist (and before that as a researcher) and it's clear that they love their animals. Many of them also Working to reduce emissions. Farmers clearly also make a living from consumer demand for dairy products (just as other farmers make a living from growing plants). The growing popularity of oat milk is threatening and has powerful implications. The dairy lobby is working hard to eradicate it..

I am under no illusions that not drinking dairy will lead to a cruelty-free life. Such a life does not exist. My coffee with milk may have come from deforested land (which was once home to more abundant wildlife). The cafe I go to uses plastic lids. My clothes come from the industrial fields of petroleum (nylon) and cotton. It's a nightmare!

Despite this, I'll probably continue choosing plant-based drinks. It's not that drinking oat milk is obviously bad or good, but it's easy compared to other things I can do. I'm increasingly aware that by choosing to purchase dairy products, I'm choosing to harm livestock, wildlife, and the planet — and I wish that wasn't the case.